Administration Falls Short, Rights Report Says

The Clinton Administration has demonstrated good intentions but a
clear lack of direction or action in the area of civil rights, the
Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights says in a 300-page report issued
last week.

There continues to be no one in the White House designated to
oversee policy in this area, the report says, "often leaving agency
civil-rights chiefs in a quandary" when Administration guidance is
needed.

But the commission, a watchdog group made up of former federal
civil-rights officials and other advocates, notes approvingly that the
President has made several appointments lauded by civil-rights groups,
including judicial appointments that have brought more diversity to the
federal bench.

The panel also says the Administration appears to have taken
significant steps to address discrimination in education. It notes
stepped-up activity at the Education Department's office for civil
rights.

The O.C.R. has issued guidelines for investigating racial-bias
complaints, has reversed a Bush Administration policy holding that
race-based scholarships are discriminatory, and has launched an array
of investigations in such areas as sexual harassment and discriminatory
ability-grouping practices. (See Education Week, 11/09/94.)

Nevertheless, the report says, the Administration has yet to advance
a school-desegregation agenda and appears to have a mixed record on
federal funding of scholarship programs that help minorities attend
college. It also argues that Clinton officials could be more active in
advancing gender equity in education.

Housing Emphasis

So far, much of the Clinton Administration's civil-rights activity
has been focused on housing, an area in which the President called for
stronger enforcement early in his term. In a recent interview, George
C. Galster, a principal research associate at the Urban Institute, a
Washington think tank, termed the emphasis "the most significant
initiative we have seen in more than a generation."

The Justice Department has beefed up its staff assigned to enforcing
fair-housing laws by about a third, and has filed and settled several
cases against banks accused of demonstrating a pattern of bias in
lending. The Housing and Urban Development Department also has revised
its policies to try to insure integration in public housing.

In other civil-rights areas, the report says, the
Administration:

Has defended the constitutionality of heavily minority voting
districts.

Helped advance labor rights with such measures as the Family and
Medical Leave Act, and pleased rights groups by reversing the Justice
Department's stance on a case involving the Piscataway, N.J., school
district. The Administration is opposing a white teacher's challenge
to the district's decision to lay her off, rather than a black
colleague with equal qualifications, to preserve diversity on its
staff.

Has moved to address the disproportionate placement of
environmental hazards in minority communities. But, the report says,
the Administration appears not to have paid much attention to
"electronic redlining," whereby such communities--including their
schools--are denied access to the information highway.

Others Fault 'Activists'

The commission blames much of President Clinton's slow start in
civil-rights enforcement on his failure to quickly fill key positions
and his bungled nomination of Lani Guinier to the post of assistant
attorney general for civil rights. Advocates were angered by the
President's decision to drop Ms. Guinier's nomination after controversy
erupted over her views on voting rights.

But Mr. Clinton's appointments appear to have left conservative
observers angry as well. Clint Bolick, the vice president of the
libertarian Institute for Justice, said the President "has appointed to
every major civil-rights position former ideological activists, and
they have pursued extremely liberal civil-rights policies across the
board."

Conservatives were particularly opposed to the nomination of Deval
L. Patrick, who last April filled the post originally designated for
Ms. Guinier. Since then, he has fired the three division chiefs in
charge of employment, voting, and educational opportunities. As of last
week, the Administration had not filled the education post.

Congress has said it plans to summon Mr. Patrick for oversight
hearings.

Copies of the report are available by calling (202) 659-5565.

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